Rising Runner
Ella Woods is a freshman hurdler, who has ran through the ranks to one of the top freshman runners.
Brock Pelfrey
Woods is jumping for the long jump.
Ella Woods is only a freshman and is already on her way to Drake for track. Woods ran track for her middle school, Northwest Junior High, and is now a passionate track star for West High School.
Woods runs many events, but her favorite event is the hundred meter hurdles. She tries her hardest to improve her technique everyday at practice. “Probably the biggest thing for me, is trying to get my three step, because to take three steps in between each hurdle is the biggest thing for me. And then my trail leg, just trying to get over fast,” Woods says about the techniques she uses while running hurdles.
She could see a future with track and definitely wants to run in college. “I’ve kind of thought about it, I want to go to an Ivy League, but I might just stay in state too and go to the University of Iowa,” Woods hasn’t figured out exactly what she wants to do for after high school, but as a freshman, she has plenty of time.
She is also very passionate about running and loves to do it for fun. The feeling she gets after running is something she enjoys a lot, “I just feel like, proud of myself and I feel confident too. It’s just like, I’m in a really good place mentally.” Woods also has to focus her time on school work. She has a study hall everyday where she can put aside everything and just focus on her grades. “It can be hard to get work done, but usually I stay on top of it a lot at school and make sure I get it all done.”
Woods’s parents and coaches are her biggest motivation along with some of the seniors on the track team. Peyton Steva ‘19 is one of the many seniors that she looks up to. “She’s our best hurdler and she’s amazing at it.” Woods says she aspires to be as good as Steva when she becomes a senior.
Woods not only has to deal with track and school work, but also an injury. She has shin splints, which is an inflammation of the muscles, tendons and bone tissue around a person’s shin. Woods had to take a week off from track because her injury was so painful. She is hoping that the free week will relax and heal her, so that she can go back to track as soon as possible. “It’s very challenging,” Woods said. “For a while, I just took ibuprofen and I could run still, but now it’s getting really bad.”
For the shuttle hurdle she is third in the Quickstat Standings, and hopefully Drake approves. Woods is also in the top fifty for hurdles and long jump. Woods is a star athlete for track and pushes herself daily to get better. Woods talks about why she loves running so much, “I find it really fun and just the feeling you get after you’re done running is nice.”
